The North Star (Polaris), the current northern pole star and the tip of the handle of the Little Dipper (Little Bear), can be located by extending an imaginary line through the front two stars of the asterism, Merak (β) and Dubhe (α). This makes it useful in celestial navigation.

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The constellation of Ursa Major (Latin: Greater Bear) has been seen as a bear, a wagon, or a ladle.
The "bear" tradition is Greek, but apparently the name "bear" has parallels in Siberian or North American traditions.[7][8][9]

The name "Bear" is Homeric, and apparently native to Greece, while the "Wain" tradition is Mesopotamian.
Book XVIII of Homer'sIliad mentions it as "the Bear, which men also call the Wain".[10] In Latin, these seven stars were known as the "Seven Oxen" (septentriones, from septem triōnēs).[11] The classical mythographer identified the "Bear" as the nymph Callisto, changed into a she-bear by Hera, the jealous wife of Zeus.

In Romanian and most Slavic languages, it is known as the "Great Wagon" as well. In Hungarian, it is commonly called "Göncöl's Wagon" (Göncölszekér) or, less often, "Big Göncöl" (Nagy Göncöl) after a táltos (shaman) in Hungarian mythology who carried medicine that could cure any disease. In Finnish, the figure is known as Otava with established etymology in the archaic meaning 'salmon net', although other uses of the word refer to 'bear' and 'wheel'.[15] The bear relation is claimed to stem from the animal's resemblance to—and mythical origin from—the asterism rather than vice versa.[16][17]

In the Lithuanian language, the stars of Ursa Major are known as Didieji Grįžulo Ratai ("Stars of the Riding Hall's Wheels"). Other names for the constellation include Perkūno Ratai ("Wheels of Perkūnas"), Kaušas ("Bucket"), Vežimas ("Carriage"), and Samtis ("Summit").

In South Korea, the constellation is referred to as "the seven stars of the north". In the related myth, a widow with seven sons found comfort with a widower, but to get to his house required crossing a stream. The seven sons, sympathetic to their mother, placed stepping stones in the river. Their mother, not knowing who put the stones in place, blessed them and, when they died, they became the constellation.[citation needed]

In Malaysian, it is known as the "Dipper Stars" (Buruj Biduk); in Indonesian, as the "Canoe Stars" (Bintang Biduk).[19]

In Javanese, as known as "Bintang Kartika". This name comes from Sanskrit which refers "krttikã" the same star cluster. In ancient Javanese this brightest seven stars are known as Lintang Wuluh, literally means "seven stars".
This star cluster is so popular because its emergence into the sky signals the time marker for planting.[citation needed]

In the same line of sight as Mizar, but about one light-year beyond it, is the star Alcor (80 UMa). Together they are known as the "Horse and Rider". At fourth magnitude, Alcor would normally be relatively easy to see with the unaided eye, but its proximity to Mizar renders it more difficult to resolve, and it has served as a traditional test of sight. Mizar itself has four components and thus enjoys the distinction of being part of an optical binary as well as being the first-discovered telescopicbinary (1617) and the first-discovered spectroscopic binary (1889).

Five of the stars of the Big Dipper are at the core of the Ursa Major Moving Group. The two at the ends, Dubhe and Alkaid, are not part of the swarm, and are moving in the opposite direction. Relative to the central five, they are moving down and to the right in the map. This will slowly change the Dipper's shape, with the bowl opening up and the handle becoming more bent. In 50,000 years the Dipper will no longer exist as we know it [citation required], but be re-formed into a new Dipper facing the opposite way. The stars Alkaid to Phecda will then constitute the bowl, while Phecda, Merak, and Dubhe will be the handle.

Not only are the stars in the Big Dipper easily found themselves, they may also be used as guides to yet other stars. Thus it is often the starting point for introducing Northern Hemisphere beginners to the night sky:

Polaris, the North Star, is found by imagining a line from Merak (β) to Dubhe (α) and then extending it for five times the distance between the two Pointers.

Extending a line from Megrez (δ) to Phecda (γ), on the inside of the bowl, leads to Regulus (α Leonis) and Alphard (α Hydrae). A mnemonic for this is "A hole in the bowl will leak on Leo."

Extending a line from Phecda (γ) to Megrez (δ) leads to Thuban (α Draconis), which was the pole star 4,000 years ago.

Crossing the top of the bowl from Megrez (δ) to Dubhe (α) takes one in the direction of Capella (α Aurigae). A mnemonic for this is "Cap to Capella."

Castor (α Geminorum) is reached by imagining a diagonal line from Megrez (δ) to Merak (β) and then extending it for approximately five times that distance.

By following the curve of the handle from Alioth (ε) to Mizar (ζ) to Alkaid (η), one reaches Arcturus (α Boötis) and Spica (α Virginis). A mnemonic for this is "Arc to Arcturus then speed (or spike) to Spica."

Additionally, the Dipper may be used as a guide to telescopic objects:

The approximate location of the Hubble Deep Field can be found by following a line from Phecda (γ) to Megrez (δ) and continuing on for the same distance again.

Crossing the bowl diagonally from Phecda (γ) to Dubhe (α) and proceeding onward for a similar stretch leads to the bright galaxy pair M81 and M82.

Two spectacular spiral galaxies flank Alkaid (η), the Pinwheel (M101) to the north and the Whirlpool (M51) to the south.

Projecting a line from Alkaid through the pole star will point to Cassiopeia.

^"But whence came the same idea into the minds of our North American Indians? Was it by accident? or is it evidence of a common origin in the far antiquity of Asia? The conformation of the seven stars in no way resembles the animal, — indeed the contrary; yet they called them Okuari and Paukunawa, words for a "bear," before they were visited by the white men, as is attested by Le Clercq in 1691, by the Reverend Cotton Mather in 1712, by the Jesuit missionary La Fitau in 1724, and by the French traveler Charlevoix in 1744. And Bancroft wrote in his history of our country: [...] In justice, however, to their familiarity with a bear's anatomy, it should be said that the impossible tail of our Ursa was to them either Three Hunters, or a Hunter with his two Dogs, in pursuit of the creature; the star Alcor being the pot in which they would cook her. They thus avoided the incongruousness of the present astronomical ideas of Bruin's make-up, although their cooking-utensil was inadequate. The Housatonic Indians, who roamed over that valley from Pittsfield through Lenox and Stockbridge to Great Barrington, said that this chase of the stellar Bear lasted from the spring till the autumn, when the animal was wounded and its blood plainly seen in the foliage of the forest." Allen (1899), p. 423.
c.f. Richard H. Allen (28 February 2013). Star Names: Their Lore and Meaning. Courier Corporation. pp. 423–. ISBN978-0-486-13766-7.